Triton Digital is expanding its Podcast Metrics data offerings to add new audience demographic and socio-demographic data on podcast listeners and downloads in the United States. It comes through a collaboration between Triton and Signal Hill Insights, in what the companies say will be the first-ever integration of census and survey-based podcast measurement research methodologies.
Together, Triton Digital and Signal Hill have launched a large, year-round survey that is representative of the population of podcast listeners in the U.S. What it calls Demos+ utilizes the Podcast Metrics measurement census-level data to identify listener overlap to scale the podcast survey-based insights.
The approach allows Triton to project the audience composition for virtually all size podcasts – a capability that it says has previously been hindered by podcast survey sample-size limitations. The result, says Triton Senior VP Daryl Battaglia, is that it “will further increase advertisers’ interest and confidence in podcasts as an effective and powerful advertising medium.”
The two companies began collecting data in April but Signal Hill President Jeff Vidler says Triton and Signal Hill began talking about how to marry their data a year and a half ago with the intriguing opportunity to “play in the big data sandbox” that Triton’s vast digital data offered. By combining big data and survey data, Vidler says they will be able to “help fill the gaps in podcast measurement” that exist today. “Survey research can help with these types of personalized demographics, but only when it comes to the most popular podcasts,” he says in a blog post. “With more than two million podcasts out there, no survey-based study has enough sample size to go beyond the very top tier of podcasts.”
Demos+ podcast metrics are built from Triton’s census-level data. In the first 3 months of their study, the companies were able to analyze data from as many as 11 million listeners per week to the 15,000 podcasts from Triton’s publishing partners. They then look at other podcasts also listened to by listeners of each podcast. That gives them a profile ‘neighborhood’ for that podcast which is then combined with survey data to build a demographic profile.
The sample is large – Vidler says it is based on 3,000 surveys among a nationally representative sample of monthly podcast listeners each quarter or 12,000 surveys per year. By using Triton’s census level data to build the neighborhoods, Vidler says they effectively multiply the sample size available and generate reliable demographic profiles well down the long tail of podcast listening.
The new features will allow podcast publishers, advertisers and ad agencies to leverage podcast download metrics by person-level demographic, socio-demographic, media behavior and purchase intent propensities. The audience profile characteristics includes demographics and sociodemographic information such as age, gender, household income, race, education, and employment. It will also be able to show media consumption covering podcasts, radio, print, TV, YouTube, streaming, and social media. Plus it will offer insights on purchase habits and intent for ad categories including QSR, auto, wireless, and travel, among others.
Triton say several “preeminent audio publishers” have begun using this data, including Kast Media. It says it plans to begin leveraging the new data in 2022 to provide show sponsors additional insights on Kast show audiences.
“These new metrics from Triton Digital and Signal Hill Insights are beneficial to understanding the behaviors and demographics of podcast audiences,” said Kast Chief Revenue Officer Mike Jensen. “We are always looking for new ways to learn more about our audience, and we are excited about having access to this new data.”
Triton and Signal Hill say they will continue to “evolve” the features in Demos+ with several enhancements in its development pipeline already.
“These observations are based on our first quarter survey sample of just over 3,000 listeners,” says Vidler. “As we build towards the full sample of 12,000 that we’ll have at the end of year one, we’ll be in an even better place to show how big data and survey data can work together to help move the podcasting industry forward.”